Beaver Loses First Conference Game Of The Season

By : Khalia Adams

Monaca, PA -- The Penn State Women's Basketball team came into this game undefeated in conference play, looking to continue their PSUAC winning streak.  The ladies came into this game with a lot of enegry, playing exceptional defense. 

In the first quarter, Beaver got off to a slow start, falling behind 8-2 at the 4:30 mark.  A jump shot by Rachael Cummings (Evans City, PA / Our Lady of Sacred Heart) sparked the Lady Lions as they would eventually tie the game at 9 on a Mia Mattes (Bethel Park, PA / Bethel Park) jumper.  Despite the late surge, Brandywine was able to get away with a lead at the end of the first quarter 14-10.  To start the second quarter Beaver looked to be playing a tighter defense, holding Brandywine scoreless for the first three minutes before giving up a jump shot to allow Brandywine to score their 16th point.  Over the next three minutes of the quarter, Beaver went on a 7-point run with scoring from Mattes, Tara McFadden (New Brighton, PA / New Brighton) and Cassidy Stollar (Houston, PA / Chartiers-Houston) to gain their first lead of the game at 17-16.  The Lady Lions continued to push the tempo and took a 24-22 lead into halftime. 

To start the second half, Beaver kept the game close for the first few minutes, but then quickly fell into a 16 point deficit as they neared the end of the third quarter (51-35).  Heading into the final ten minutes of play, Beaver struggled to regain momentum, but edged their way back into the game with just over four minutes to play narrowing the score to 60-51 on a pair of McFadden free throws.  Unfortunately the late surge was not enough and Beaver fell by a final score of 69-58.

Beaver came out shooting at a low percentage, only 33% from the field. Despite Beaver's low shooting precentage, they were led by Sophomore Mia Mattes  who finished with 20 points, going 3-4 from behind the three point line.

After their lost to Brandywine the team now sits at 11-5 overall and 7-1 in the conference. The Lady Lions will play again Saturday, January 21, at home against Penn State Lehigh Valley. Game time is set for 1 p.m.